


Destiny is Written

by likestoimagine



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: Canon Era, Canon Rewrite, Canon but slightly to the left, Gen, POV Alternating, it's like, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24452599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likestoimagine/pseuds/likestoimagine
Summary: Shulk is a simple person who just wants to spend time with this friends and his research. Life has other plans for him.(A retelling of Xenoblade Chronicles)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 23





	Destiny is Written

The thing most people don’t realize about Shulk is that he’s a pretty enthusiastic person. It’s partly because he’s a bit of a recluse, for all that he’s friendly and generally likes people, but mostly because he’s so quiet.

People like to joke that Reyn makes all the noise for both of them - and they’re not entirely _wrong -_ but Shulk is the one who likes to add that it saves him time, since walking with Reyn means he doesn’t have to deal with the typical song-and-dance.

…Like now, when he comes around in the middle of training and asks, _right behind Reyn,_ “Are you going to be free soon?”

Reyn’s not proud to say he jumps, but at least it doesn’t _always_ happen. It’s faint praise, but he’s one of four people in the colony who can claim that much - and he’s not _screaming_ in fright like some of his other teammates - so he’ll take what he can get.

Shulk is known as ‘the living ghost of Colony 9’, and it’s not just because he’s as pale as one. His skin might be the kind of sickly-pale that used to be worrying, his hair might be an almost-white blond unlike any other, and his eyes might be an almost-too-bright blue that reflects weirdly in the light, but his nickname - more than anything - references his ability to walk like a shadow.

He’s scared everyone he’s ever talked to at least once by now, so he’s used to the reaction even if he claims it’s excessive. Because of that, he only spares a moment to roll his eyes at the screaming behind him before he ignores everyone else and turns to Reyn.

“I think there might have been a scouter in the last batch of falling mechon wreckage,” he explains cheerfully, ignoring the chatter behind him. “I want to see if I can salvage an optical system from it, to fix the targeting on Anti-Air Battery 1, but Fiora can’t make it out today. I know you have training right now, but is there any chance you could come with?”

_Sure, when do we head out?_ Reyn almost asks, before he remembers that _he’s in the middle of training._ He’d _like_ to go out this minute, when it’s a chance to hang out with Shulk, but if he says that he’s going to lose his hearing to the Colonel.

Though… Colonel Vangarre _does_ have a known soft spot for Shulk. Part of it is just that Shulk is like that, but Reyn’s also pretty sure it’s because the Colonel doesn’t worry about Shulk like the other scientists, since he can handle himself in a fight.

After all, Vangarre is a worry-wort at heart, and if Shulk can fight, he doesn’t have to worry about getting murdered by a stray caterpile - even if his combat skills aren’t _great,_ that already puts him above all the other scientists in the colony, aside from Dickson who’s more of a merchant these days anyways.

In any case, the fact that Shulk doesn’t spike the Colonol’s blood pressure every time he goes out means that he’s more likely to humor Shulk’s whims. That, plus the fact that he could potentially fix the anti-air battery…

Vangarre has been complaining about them for _weeks._ ‘Junk,’ he keeps saying, ‘literal junk if those damned cannons can’ even do their jobs and stop the debris from clocking us upside the head’.

If he hasn’t started yelling at Shulk by now, there’s a pretty good chance they’ll get to go. And it’s not like Reyn wants to skive off training or anything, but he hasn’t seen his best friend in a while.

Even if they’ve gotten off lightly, just by being so far away from Mechonis, they’re still recovering from past assaults. The battle at Sword Valley - or more specifically, Dunban and the Monado at Sword Valley - might have been a strike decisive enough to buy them a year’s peace from the mechon, but there’s still damage to recover from, and troops who never made it back home.

Shulk’s engineering skills put him in high demand for repairs. Fiora spends most of her time helping Dunban _recover_ from Sword Valley. Reyn himself has more training than before, to help make up for the losses from before.

It makes sense that they’re busier than they used to be, but knowing that doesn’t make Reyn less lonely, when he hasn’t seen much of his best friends lately. He’d like more time with at least Shulk, if the chance is going to present itself.

By the look on Vangarre’s face, it might actually be possible. His bushy eyebrow is twitching, but the look in his eye is more resigned exasperation than true annoyance, and other than tapping his foot impatiently, he hasn’t otherwise made a noise.

When Shulk finally clues into the presence behind him, he exclaims, “Oh, Colonel, you’re here! I guess I should ask you, then - can I borrow Reyn for today?”

Colonel Vangarre looks down at Shulk over his giant handlebar mustache, rather than answering immediately. It’s a well-used intimidation tactic, one that’s hitting all of his fellow trainees just fine, but Shulk isn’t always the best at cluing into these things - he has that look on his face that says he realizes he’s missing something, but can’t figure out what it is.

He shifts on his feet and avoids eye contact, but that’s more awkwardness than anything, and eventually, either that or impatience on Vangarre’s part wins out.

Vangarre rubs at his forehead. With a loud, pointed sigh, he says, “You realize we’re in the middle of _teamwork training,_ right? Ideally, that means the _entire team is here._ ”

“…Yes?” Shulk replies, after a long pause. “That’s… why I was asking?”

There’s something hilarious about watching Shulk miss the obvious, sometimes, especially with the way it should be infuriating to people. Shulk doesn’t seem to be aware of it, but he has an annoyingly effective set of puppy eyes for this exact situation, one that makes people sag and drag a hand down their face - much like Vangarre is doing now - when they want to be annoyed at him.

In short order, Vangarre is reduced to grumbling, “Fine, brat, just take him and go get the damned battery up and working again.” Then, after a brief pause, he adds, “ _And stop sneaking up on my troops.”_

That has Shulk beaming, and he immediately grabs Reyn’s arm to start dragging him away. “Thank you very much, sir, we’ll be going now!” he says, even as he bounces to the exit.

“Yeah, whatever,” Vangarre mutters under his breath, before he shouts, “You maggots better be ready for a Mag Mell run tomorrow. You’re making up up for lost training and we need more ether cylinders because _somebody - ”_ here the Colonel turns a venomous glare on Mikhal, “ - crashed the _only working_ mobile artillery we have in the residential district.”

Mikhal _eeps._ Its a very natural response to Vangarre’s glare, but even underneath his sympathy Reyn can’t help but wonder how he mucked up _that_ badly.

It’d be one thing if he were practicing combat with it, when multitasking with it is difficult, but for just driving? He shouldn’t have been able to _crash into a wall._

Well, Mikhal has probably already been scolded enough about it. It’s probably just salt in the wound for him to be singled out at this point, and Reyn’s already heading out for the day, so there’s no reason why he can’t distract Vangarre at least a little.

He twists, just enough that he can look back at his team without pulling out of Shulk’s loose hold on his arm, and sketches out a cheerfully cheeky salute as he recites, “Yes, sir, of course, sir, right away, sir!”

“Get out of here already!” Vangarre shouts behind them.

Reyn chirps, “Aye aye, captain!” with a backwards wave before he settles properly to walk next to Shulk.

“The colonel is so energetic all the time,” Shulk muses, “I wonder how he manages.”

“He wakes up naturally an hour before dawn and delights in the misery of the night owls under his command,” Reyn explains.

“That would probably be it,” Shulk says with a laugh, before he abruptly switches tracks. “But I still don’t get what he means about me sneaking up on people. I walk normally, just like everyone else, and you’d think the defense force to have better situational awareness by now, even if they’ve only started recently.”

Reyn slings an arm around Shulk’s shoulder, though he has to stoop to do it properly. “I hate to break it to you, buddy, but you’re not our resident living ghost _just_ because you’re as pale as armu milk - though I suppose that doesn’t hurt. Literally no one can tell if you’re walking behind them, not til you talk.”

“You can tell just fine, when you’re not distracted,” Shulk counters with a pout, “And you’re not the only one.”

“Nah, it’s just me, Dickson, Dunban, and Fiora,” Reyn replies, “and even then it’s not a sure thing. Everyone else just gets increased blood pressure.”

Shulk shoves him, though not nearly enough to dislodge him. Reyn takes this as permission to keep leaning obnoxiously, so he doesn’t move as Shulk replies, “You make it sound supernatural or something, I told you, I just walk normally.”

It’s a bit annoying to keep walking like this, with the height difference and all, so Reyn finally straightens as he says, “Well, you _are_ our living ghost, that counts for something, right? Plus, I’m pretty sure Vangarre is still trying to figure out if it’s even possible to replicate your Shadow Eye technique. If nothing else, it’s notable enough to be a legit battle tactic.”

Shulk rolls his eyes. “Well sure, but I have to _focus_ to do that. There’s no reason people shouldn’t notice me when I’m just walking around normaly.”

With a grin, Reyn rolls his eyes right back at Shulk. “Sure, you keep telling yourself that,” he says - then, after a moment, he has another thought.

“Hey, you don’t have to, but would you be willing to come with me on the cylinder run? I know Vangarre forgets that you’re not actually one of his trainees sometimes, but I could use the help and you know your way around the place better than I do.”

Shulk tilts his head to look up at him. “Yeah of course, anything for you, Reyn. Besides, you’re already helping me and the cylinder run is at least a two person job anyways - it’s the least I could do.”

Reyn shrugs. “Eh, if it wasn’t for the size of the ether cylinders, I could manage it on my own, no problem. But seriously man, I appreciate it.”

With a smile, Shulk says, “Don’t worry about it.” Then he frowns and says, “But the Colonel said someone crashed the artillery in the residential district? Why does he need ether for that?”

“We wouldn’t, except the cylinders cracked in the crash. Both the cylinders leaked out everywhere, and let me tell you - it was a pain to clean all that up.”

“Huh,” Shulk replies, “What about the reserve cylinders, then?”

Reyn shakes his head. “Those are only for emergencies, like if the power suddenly went out in the infirmaries. If we use them for the artillery now, when there’s no urgent need and it uses so much ether, then we might not have it for later.”

“I bet it would be less of a problem if the artillery was more fuel efficient, then… though I suppose that doesn’t help now. In the future, though…”

Without pause, Shulk pulls a notebook out of his vest pocket and starts scribbling. It’s… something, probably related to the artillery, but between the mechanics of it and Shulk’s atrocious handwriting, Reyn’s completely lost.

Somewhat doubtfully, Reyn says, “I don’t think the Colonel’s gonna let you experiment on it, when it’s the only one still working right now."

“Yeah, you’re right.” Shulk sighs, pencil slowing down as he adds, “and even if we do have blueprints for it, we don’t really have time to make another one, if even fixing the broken ones isn’t a priority right now.”

“Hey,” Reyn says, with a slight nudge to his shoulder, “even if you can’t work on it now, you can still plan for later. It won’t be much longer before we’re caught up enough with repairs that you can start experimenting properly again."

There’s a slight pause, as Shulk turns to look at Reyn. Then he smiles and says, “Yeah, of course. You’re right, the chance’ll come up someday."

—

Their search for the latest batch of fallen mechon wreckage is standard except for the part when Shulk manages to piss off a sleeping krabble - one that had the same idea as him about using the scrap mechon armor for its own defense.

Shulk manages to lose that fight, even though he wins the battle. Despite his best efforts, the krabble escapes with its armor before Shulk can make a proper grab for it, and he mopes about the loss for as long as it takes him to find the optical system he was hoping for.

That, plus the extra mechon joints he gleefully shoves into his pockets, means that he’s shortly back on his feet like nothing ever happened. He’d probably be skipping right now, if it weren’t for the bulging backpack weighing him down.

Also if he hadn’t just thought of _even more ideas,_ judging by the way he fumbles for his notebook so he can sketch as he walks.

It’s all incredibly familiar, including the part where Shulk nearly walks himself off a cliff.

It was worrying the first dozen times it happened, but by now Reyn’s long since resigned himself to catching his best friend - sometimes by his vest, this time by his backpack - before he can plant his face in the dirt.

Shulk’s only acknowledgement of the whole thing is to glance up and say, “Hm? Oh, thanks, Reyn,” before he immediately asks, “By the way, can I borrow your driver for the evening?”

Reyn blinks. “It works fine and you just made it a few weeks ago,” he points out, “why do you want it back so soon?”

Shulk shakes his head. “I only noticed it earlier, against that krabble, but the hinge-and-lock mechanism for your shield is sticking a little. It’s not too bad right now, but I got some things from the wreckage that’d be better for it, so it doesn’t stick at all. It’d be a pretty small adjustment, so I thin I can finish it after I’m done with the anti-air battery, before we head out tomorrow.”

“Then sure, I’ll give it to you,” Reyn replies, “but like… you’re going to get actual sleep tonight, right?”

“It’ll be fine, I’ll be done with the anti-air battery by sundown at the latest, and the driver won’t take much longer.”

It’s… not reassuring, exactly _,_ when Shulk is so easily distracted, but it’s the best he’s gonna get. “Alright, then,” Reyn replies, “I’ll walk with you to the lab and drop it off, then.”

“Great! It’ll be done before we leave for the Mag Mell ruins, I promise.” Shulk grins up at him, briefly, before he goes right back to his notebook, oblivious to the world.

Reyn takes a long look at Shulk before he finally sighs and says, “I’ll pack a travel bag for you, too.”

Since Shulk’s not going to remember to.

oOoOo

All else being equal, Fiora would have gladly gone out scavenging with Shulk - aside from the sorely missed company, she’d have liked the chance to practice more with her knives, and she could have used the time to go look for fresh ingredients.

Unfortunately, with Dunban’s latest flare-up, she had to send him off alone.

(And sure, her brother _said_ it’d be okay if she went, but he’d been practically grey under his copper skin as he said it, so there’s no way she’d leave him alone.)

It’d be a lie to say she wasn’t worried, since Shulk isn’t the _strongest_ solo fighter, but he can handle himself well enough against the things outside the colony, and he said he’d ask Reyn to join - Vangarre probably let him go, once he brought up the anti-air battery.

They can take care of each other, and Reyn’ll watch Shulk’s back if he gets too distracted, so they’ll be fine.

Dunban is less so, despite his protests otherwise. He’s at least well enough to claim he’s fine, but it’d be easier to believe if he could actually get himself out of bed.

As it is, he can only get himself to sitting upright before he slumps against the wall. There’s not much Fiora can do at this point, but at least she can get him food so he can take his painkillers.

The fact that he doesn’t complain - despite hating how woozy they make him - says enough about his state at the moment, so Fiora also uses the last of their cool potatoes to make a poultice for the inflammation. 

Dunban shivers as she applies it to the angry, branching scars that trail from his right shoulder to his fingertips, but after a moment he relaxes. His eyes are half-closed as she finishes the application and wraps his arm to keep the poultice in place, but she’s only halfway done when he suddenly tenses.

Fiora yanks her hand back, though she’s certain she didn’t do anything.

Dunban doesn’t seem to be in pain, but it can be hard to tell with him. Fiora’s gotten better at catching him out on it, though, and right now his expression is more distant than struggling.

It’s a strange juxtaposition with the fact that he’s sitting fully upright now, stiff as a plank, and maybe it’s just a strange reaction to the pain medication, but… that doesn’t seem right.

“Dunban…” Fiora asks, “are you…”

He shudders and pitches forwards, only just managing to brace himself on her shoulder. With a vague voice, like he’s talking in his sleep, he says, murmurs, _“Something’s coming - the world is going to change.”_

Fiora freezes. “Wh - what? Dunban, _what do you mean?”_

There’s nothing but silence for several long, syrup-slow moments. Then Dunban gasps, quiet and sharp, before he pushes himself upright and leans against the wall again. He shakes his head like he has water in his ears, but when he looks at Fiora again his eyes are clear.

He gives her a tired smile and says, “I’m so proud of you, Fiora. You’ve grown to be so strong, and brave, and kind. Hold onto that spirit of yours, no matter what happens.”

Dunban has always been regarded well by the people of the colony, even before his heroics at Sword Valley. Fiora’s no exception, even if she has more leeway in teasing her brother, so the praise sparks a happy bubbling in her heart.

It’s just… something about it sounds like a farewell.

(Something about it sparks dread in her, as well.)

—

The next day is brighter all around - by the time Fiora makes her way downstairs, Dunban’s already sitting by the window, empty plate by his side and a book of Colony 6 poetry in his hand. He’s smiling slightly, content in the way that means his morning physical therapy went smoothly.

Fiora greets him on the way to the kitchen, intent on making her own breakfast, only to stop when she sees a covered plate on the counter. Lifting the napkin reveals fluffy pancakes, and she can’t help but grin.

Halfway through her breakfast, Fiora pauses. Shulk went digging through mechon scrap yesterday, so it makes sense she hasn’t seen much of him, but usually he’d stop by on the way back and talk about what he’d found, since they live so close to the main entrance. The fact that he _hasn’t,_ then, means he’s gotten invested in one of his projects, enough so that he forgot to in his rush.

He’s almost certainly forgotten to eat, as well.

Well, even if his behavior is annoyingly predictable sometimes, its at least well timed - Fiora has a new recipe for him to try, already made yesterday, so it’s barely any work to pack a meal for him, after breakfast.

Once that’s done, Fiora makes her way out of the house, intent of the labs with the freshly-packed picnic basket swinging in her hand.

Dickson stops her just outside the house. “If you’re looking for Shulk, he’s not gonna be in the lab.”

Fiora blinks. “Really? I thought he’d have holed himself up in there, since he went scavenging yesterday.”

With a sharp grin, Dickson replies, “He did, but I kicked him out for fresh air. You know where to find him, right?”

“Is there anywhere else to look?” Fiora asks. “Don’t worry, I know where he is.”

As she heads off, Dickson calls out behind her, “Take care, kid.”

Fiora glances over her shoulder as she flicks a knife out of her belt. With a deft spin, she lets the blade catch the early morning light before she puts it away and says, “Don’t worry, I can take care of myself.”

Dickson’s cheerful cackling follows her out of the main entrance.

———

The trek to Outlook Park is short but steep - a good hike to start the day, especially in the cool morning light.

Fiora pants as she makes her way up the last of the stairs, looking up in time to catch sight of the large central tree, and the small figure sitting at the bench underneath it.

This is Shulk’s favorite spot in the colony, outside of the lab. It’s not uncommon for him to sit there for hours, writing in his notebook or staring up at the sky, but this time he’s hunched over, staring blankly at the ground as he absently rubs at his right wrist.

He only really does that if he’s thinking about Dunban - about his wounds, and what put them there.

Because it wasn’t any of the enemy mechon that got to Dunban, in the end - it was his own weapon, the Monado. It’s the most effective weapon they have against the mechon, the only one that can cut through mechon armor, but it’s too dangerous for anyone to use. Dunban was the only one who could use it, for a time, and in the end it was too much for even his stubborn nature.

It’s also the focus of Shulk’s most long-standing studies, because he and Dickson are the only ones who aren’t afraid to touch it, and figuring out its secrets could change everything about their conflict against the mechon.

She still can’t bring herself to appreciate the thing, though - not after what it did to her brother. But that’s not what she wants to think about, not when it’s a lovely day and Dunban is doing so much better, and everything is so peaceful.

Fiora would rather dwell on happier things, so instead of asking what Shulk is thinking about, she simply calls out to him - he’ll talk about it if he needs to.

Shulk starts, just a bit, at her call, and he turns to face her with a slightly bewildered look in his eyes. Then he blink, and with it comes recognition - and a smile.

It’s a small thing, a little curl that softens his blue eyes and tugs at the corner of his lips, and it’s all the more precious for being so rare. Shulk likes people well enough, and he’s since grown accustomed to talking with them, but he’s only really comfortable enough for that particular smile with a select few.

It’s flattering, a warmth in her cheeks and a flutter in her heartbeat, that Fiora gets to see it as often as she does.

But that’s not something to dwell on at the moment, so she brushes it aside and walks forwards to greet him.

Shulk scoots over to make room for her on the bench, and reaches out to take the basket from Fiora’s hands. “It’s great to see you! Is everything alright with Dunban now?”

“He’s doing better now - even made it through his morning workout and everything.” Fiora replies. “I’m sorry I couldn’t go out with you yesterday, though.”

As Shulk unearths a thermos of coffee - black because he cares more about caffeine than taste - and a stack of sandwiches wrapped in checkered red cloth, he says, “Oh, don’t worry about it. Things just happen sometimes, and Reyn came with me anyways so everything worked out.”

Then he unwraps the sandwiches and blinks. “These look different, did you do something new?”

“Yup.” Fiora bounces slightly as she pokes his nose and adds, “And I’m not going to tell you what until you try it and tell me how it tastes.”

Shulk’s eyes cross as he focuses on her fingertip. “But I already know it’s going to be delicious - you’re the one who made it.”

Fiora rolls her eyes and replies, “Maybe that’s true, but that doesn’t tell me how it tastes _or_ how I can improve.” With a gentle whack, she adds, “You already know this, so stop teasing and try it already.”

Shulk laughs. “Got it, got it, I’ll do my best.”

True to his word, he tries his best to give a good report - though his best isn’t always very good. For all that Shulk dislikes most vegetables with a vengeance, there’s little else that he won’t eat. He doesn’t seem to have a preference, for the most part, as long as it’s in front of his face and he’s hungry.

But Fiora still wants to find a food that he’ll really like, and Shulk always does his best to judge her food fairly.

As he slowly works his way through the sandwich, Fiora leans back with a content sigh and closes her eyes. Outlook Park is one of her favorite places, as much as it is Shulk’s, because it’s close enough for her to see the movement of life of the colony, but far enough above the bustle to be calm.

She relaxes into the quiet of it, enough so that it’s almost a surprise when Shulk finishes his first sandwich and says, “Just as I thought, it’s amazing.”

Fiora turns to look at him, and he looks back with a smile that’s soft and sunlit.

“You did something new with the seasoning, right? I can’t really explain it, but it tasted… refreshing, I guess?”

Fiora smiles in return. “Yeah, I had some herbs from Colony 6 I wanted to try out. I wasn’t sure how it’d work, but I was hoping it’d have a similar effect to lemon, without being sour.”

“Well it worked wonderfully,” Shulk replies. “This’ll probably be one of your best sellers, once you’re able to get your restaurant running.”

“That’s only assuming the Colony 6 traders get back on schedule,” Fiora replies, though she’s still grinning at the praise, “they haven’t been by for over a month.”

They’re actually a few days late, by now. Colony 6 may not be the closest, but it’s a short enough distance that traders normally come by on a regular schedule. It’s a little strange, but they haven’t sent any messengers with urgent news, so Fiora hopes the delay isn’t anything bad.

Shulk, instead of replying, instead tackles the rest of his sandwiches with a renewed vengeance. If Fiora didn’t already have her suspicions, this would be confirmation that he’d forgotten to eat yesterday.

It’s fine, though. Fiora’s glad Shulk likes her food, and they don’t need talk to enjoy each other’s company.

She tilts her face back to the sky - to the chill morning air, the dappled sunlight against her cheeks, the rustle of a soft breeze filtered through the leaves above her.

It’s peaceful here, in a way that’s hard to find in the crowded space of their home. She loves the crowds of people, the community they’ve built even in the face of the mechon threat, but it’s nice to get away from it, too. At least for a little bit, when she can share in this quiet time with Shulk.

It’d be nice if they could catch a free day for this with Reyn, too. Dunban can’t quite make the hike right now, but maybe soon…

For now though, Fiora simply enjoys what’s here, stretches and leans forwards with a content sigh. “The breeze feels so good right now.”

Shulk, finished with his food by now, pauses where he’s packing up the basket. He closes his eyes and tilts his face to the breeze, and after a moment murmurs, “Yeah… it’s so quiet here, I’d almost forgotten what that was like.”

Fiora rolls her eyes with a grin and pokes Shulk in the side. “That’s because you spend too much time in the lab. You’re surrounded by all that noisy machinery, you need to get out more. Actually, we should come up more often. We can bring Reyn and Dunban up, too - make a proper picnic out of it.”

“That’d be great,” Shulk agrees. Then, he laughs and says, “Its been a while, since we’ve all had the chance to hang out. It’s nice, having the chance to relax like this…”

Fiora looks out to the colony in the distance.

From this distance, the anti-air batteries surrounding it almost look elegant, thin white spires mounted on the smooth white islands that make up their base. It’s hard to imagine they’re weapons, sometimes, and for a moment Fiora imagines what it’d be like if they didn’t _have_ to be - if they could just be decorations for a world drenched in sunlight, where they could live without the undercurrent of fear that persists even after a year of peace.

It’s the kind of world where Dunban never lost his right arm in his push to defend everyone with the Monado. Where Reyn doesn’t need to spend all his time training for a threat they can’t see, where Shulk could figure out the Monado without worrying that he’ll be too late or too slow to help against the next mechon threat, where Fiora finally has the chance to open up the restaurant that she’s always wanted.

It’s a fragile dream, fleeting like the morning breeze, and Fiora lets herself drift off in it when she murmurs, “I wish every day could be like this.”

Shulk hums sleepily and Fiora thinks she could stay there forever.

Then a siren blares, and breaks the sugar-spun moment.

A sharp wail filters up from the colony, jarring despite the distance, and stirs Shulk into wakefulness.

He mutters, “The debris siren? That’s strange, we don’t normally get this much…” before there’s a _boom_ and a burst of smoke - the anti-air batteries, shooting down the first of the incoming debris, breaking it to smaller pieces and sending it careening into the outskirts, away from the crowds of the colony.

Shulk stands, basket in hand as he stares at the sky. “It looks like I got the targeting systems fixed up in time, but the anti-air batteries still can’t protect us out here…”

With a sigh, Fiora rises. “I suppose it’s time to get you back to the lab, then.”

———

Its too much to hope for true _quiet_ in the labs, when people work there around the clock and the air is filled with the whir of active machinery, but Fiora still has certain expectations.

These expectations don’t include Reyn reaching for the Monado at Shulk’s workbench.

Fiora notices this a split second after Shulk dashes into the lab, and flinches at Shulk’s uncharacteristic volume when he shouts, “Reyn, _wait, don’t tou - ”_

It’s too late. Reyn’s hand closes reflexively on the Monado’s hilt, and when he turns towards Shulk, he takes it with him.

Shulk’s voice is sharp when he demands, “ _Reyn,_ give it - ”

_Back,_ is what he was probably going to say, but he doesn’t get the chance to finish the thought. The Monado _reacts,_ sparking a crackling blue as it drags Reyn through the lab. It quakes so violently that it lifts him clear off the ground, and Reyn ends up screaming.

Fiora might be screaming, too, but if she is no one notices. Which is fair, because there’s a pressurized _hiss,_ and a blade of bright blue light bursts out of the Monado’s red frame.

With the release of the blade, the Monado seems to redouble it’s efforts, thrashing even more violently and leaving deep gouges in its wake. Fiora stumbles back blindly, feeling for a corner more than she looks for one, until she’s as far as she can get while keeping her eyes on the apparently _possessed_ sword.

Shulk is either braver or stupider than she is, because he trails after Reyn and tries to snatch the Monado from his grasp.

It doesn’t work, and a moment later there’s a piercing _screech,_ the sound of rent metal _right in her ear._

There’s some kind of machine in her corner, an the Monado’s blade goes through it, cutting a straight path directly into her side.

Fiora flinches, and the Monado strikes her clear in the side. Instead of the biting pain she expects, it _bounces_ after a blunt impact, leaving her with a stuttering heartbeat and ragged breath, but also very much alive.

Reyn’s grip on the Monado finally loosens with the rebound, enough to send it clattering to the floor. He collapses shortly after, but is barely down for a breath before he scrambles to his feet and to Fiora’s side, hand hovering anxiously as he stammers, “F - Fiora, are you alright?!”

“Ye - yeah, I’m fine,” Fiora replies automatically. She doesn’t _feel_ fine, with her heart beating a staccato in her throat, but she’s alive and that’s a lot better than she _thought_ she’d be, when she first felt the Monado’s blade.

Fiora’s alright, if jittery, and Reyn’s clearly fine if he has time to worry about other people, which just leaves Shulk, who is -

\- complaining about the broken machine.

Fiora storms up to him and shrieks, “Why are you more worried about the damned machine than me?! _I could have died!”_

She shoves him, none too gently, and since he’s tiny and kneeling precariously by the wreckage, he tips over and goes sprawling against the floor. _Good,_ it’s the least he deserves, after all that.

He has the audacity to frown at her indignantly. “Ow, _Fiora!_ What was that for?”

“I nearly got bisected by a sword that cut through a solid foot of reinforced steel and you completely ignored me, _what do you think that was for?”_

“Bisec - Fiora, it wasn’t going to cut you!”

Fiora flings an arm out, gesturing to the entirety lab. At least four different machine, three tanks, and two unfortunate walls have deep gashes cut into them, even disregarding whatever they’re standing next to, which is completely cleaved in two. _“What do you mean it wasn’t going to cut me?"_

“Yeah, Shulk, what’re you talking about?” Reyn asks. “It’s already done plenty of damage to the lab, and it certainly didn’t go easy on _me.”_

Shulk pushes himself to his feet and dusts himself off. “I meant exactly what I said. It wasn’t going to hurt you - the Monado _can’t_ cut people. It never has, for as long as we’ve had it.”

His confidence is kind of ridiculous, when the thing _cuts through mechon armor,_ but…

It bounced when it struck her, and everything else that’s cut is metal. Fiora brings a hand to her side, and there’s no blood or torn skin there - only the smooth leather of her favorite vest, the one that she’s had since childhood, that Reyn ended up altering for her when she’d first outgrown it. 

Shulk would know the most about the Monado, after all his years studying it. If he says it wasn’t going to hurt her, then fine. She would have appreciated _some_ concern, but if Shulk says there wasn’t any danger then he never would have thought of it.

He can be oblivious like that, sometimes, and it’s only so aggravating right now because Fiora still feels somewhat panicked.

She lets go of the last of her anger with a sigh, and Shulk relaxes as the noise. He favors her with a brief smile, now that he knows he’s not going to be shoved again, and turns to take Reyn’s hand.

Shulk’s hands are tiny and ghost-pale in comparison, but he moves with comfortable ease as he pokes at Reyn’s palm. As his fingers trail slowly up, he asks, “You doing alright though, Reyn? No numbness or anything?”

Reyn shakes his head, even as he twists his arm to accommodate Shulk’s examination. “Nah, I’m fine, just a bit tingly. Kinda like static, but that’s almost gone, too.”

Shulk nods and releases Reyn’s arm. “That’s good, then - that means it was pretty mild.”

“Oi, Shulk, you call that mild?” Reyn complains, “I know we survived and all, but that sure didn’t feel mild to me. Felt like that time you dared me to lick that electric ether deposit, actually.”

Fiora rolls her eyes. “Reyn, he didn’t dare you to do anything. He said ‘that sounds like a bad idea’ and you said ‘I know what I’m doing’ and nearly exploded.”

“Well yeah,” Reyn says with a grin, “But you know he wanted to know what would happen.” Then he sobers and continues, “but seriously, Shulk, if that’s the Monado going easy on people, then what does it normally do? Is it even safe for you to be studying it?”

Shulk shakes his head. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. The Monado behaves perfectly well as long as you don’t plan to use it - though no one else in the lab is really comfortable picking it up, anyways.”

As a demonstration, Shulk retrieves the fallen sword, now lying inert and mundane on the ground. “See, it only gets choosy when you try to wield it. Some people find it too painful to even hold if they’re trying, but it’s never actually cut anyone.”

That’s… not comforting, especially with the damage it did to her brother. Maybe it doesn’t cut people, but that didn’t stop it from hurting Dunban badly enough that he won’t ever be able to use his right arm again. Even if the Monado is their greatest hope against the mechon, Fiora doesn’t like it.

But still, Shulk knows so much about it, and if she can get answers…

“Shulk, do you know what happened with Dunban? Why it chose him, and rejected him later?”

Shulk hesitates, licks his lips anxiously as he slowly says, “I… I don’t really know, but…” He brings a hand to his face, taps a finger against his cheek. “It’s not something I really remember, but when the mechon attacks started getting worse, around ten years ago?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, we started trying to see if anyone could use it, right?”

Reyn, quiet until now, answers, “Yeah, people kept talking about it, how they’d be the one to use it, or complaining when they failed. Everyone kept on pushing Dunban to use it, but he didn’t want to.”

Fiora nods. “He said he’d rather rely on his own strength than have the Monado fight for him, but…” something managed to get her stubborn big brother to change his mind, and he turned the tides in the mechon war, at the cost of his right arm.

“He came to the lab one day to talk with Dickson,” Shulk says, oblivious to her thoughts. “I was half asleep, so I don’t remember what they were talking about, but… the next day, he said he would try. And he wasn’t surprised when he was able to use it.”

He bites his lip. “It worked for him, except… when I was observing him, he’d sometimes say it wasn’t cooperating. It was like he should have been able to use it, but for some reason he couldn’t. Like…”

He trails off, and Fiora waits for him to continue. Except, Shulk never picks up that trailing thought, and when Reyn finally pokes him, he instead goes to set the Monado back on it’s stand at his workbench.

As he does, Fiora finally asks, “Shulk, it’s not going to hurt you, right?”

“Hm?” Shulk turns just slightly, to glance at her.

“I mean, you’re not going to end up like Dunban… right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he says, turning further to look at her properly. “It gets a little weird sometimes, but it hasn’t done anything to hurt me yet, and - ”

The Monado, still in his hand, naturally follows his movement. In the process, it clips the side of his bench with a metallic _thwap_ and slides open with a flash of vivid blue light.

Reyn shouts and Fiora stumbles back with a hand over her eyes. She cringes, but instead of the carnage from before all she hears is a brief thrumming that reverberates strangely in her bones. After the light from the Monado’s activation fades, Fiora slowly opens her eyes.

Objectively, things are going better this time around. Nothing’s being carved up, after all, and the Monado is still in Shulk’s hands, but something’s clearly wrong. He’s hunched over by his bench, trembling with his hands practically welded to the Monado, staring blankly at the ground and -

There’s something strange in his eyes. They’ve always been a too-bright blue, but now the shade of it is shifted a bit to the left, and they’re… shimmering, in the light of the Monado.

…no, it’s not a reflection. His eyes are glowing, though only faintly, with the same eerie light as the Monado.

It’s creepy, but Fiora still approaches Shulk, Reyn coming up on his other side. Their eye meet over his head, and Reyn bites anxiously at his lip.

Whatever this is, it doesn’t seem to be immediately harmful to Shulk. At the same time, she doesn’t want to just _leave_ him there, flickering with blue lightning, especially after everything she’s just heard.

Hesitantly, Fiora reaches out and asks, “Are - are you okay?”

She lays a hand on Shulk’s shoulder - and there’s a shock, a flicker like static that runs through her fingers and straight down her spine. Fiora jumps, and startles Shulk out of his trance.

He stumbles, drops the Monado with a loud clatter and only avoids falling because Reyn manages to catch him in time.

With a dazed look in his normal blue eyes, Shulk groans, “Ugh… sorry, did you say something?”

Fiora snaps, “I was _asking_ if you were alright, Shulk.” Then she sighs and continues, after a calming breath, “Sorry, I was kind of startled. You looked _really_ out of it, there.”

“Y-yeah…” Shulk stammers. “Sorry about that.”

Reyn frowns. “Dude, are you sure you’re alright?”

“Mmhm.” Shulk picks up the Monado again - more casually than Fiora thinks it warrants, after it’s messed with _both_ of her best friends - and sets it back in its stand, careful to avoid bumping the bench this time.

He doesn’t turn around. With his back to them and a hand still on the Monado’s hilt, Shulk asks after a long pause, “Reyn, when you touched the Monado, did you see anything?”

“I mean, there was that flash, and a blade of blue light, same as this time.” Reyn frowns, then slowly continues, “But that’s not what you’re asking about, is it? You saw something else.”

There’s another moment, when the silence stretches. Finally, Shulk replies, “Yeah. I saw something, but it was… strange.”

He turns around, not quite facing them because his face is tilted to the floor as he thinks. “It was something like images flashing through my head. Almost like a dream, but not like any I’ve had before…”

“That… that don’t sound normal,” Reyn admits, hovering over Shulk, “Did it hurt you?”

Shulk shakes his head. “I’m fine, don’t worry about it. It’s happened a few times before, but today was the first time it was anything more than vague impressions. Mostly I just strange that it doesn’t seem to happen to anyone else. Maybe if I knew _why_ it seems to be just me, I’d have a better understanding of the Monado.”

Despite his protests otherwise, it’s not actually reassuring that the Monado does weird things to Shulk’s brain - and that’s even before considering that he’s still shivering slightly, and even paler than usual.

Fiora has a very strong need to bustle him bed and douse him with calming tea until he goes to sleep, except there’s no real reason to - even as she watches, Shulk’s color returns to normal and she stops shivering. It’s nothing like what she saw with Dunban, where he was carried back on a stretcher and trembling with pain even as he clutched at an arm that’d been burned a bright, lightning-webbed red.

By all metrics, he seems to be perfectly fine, so all Fiora can really say is, “If… if you say so.”

Shulk nods. “Really, I’m fine. Give it a few minutes and it’ll be like nothing ever happened.”

Then he turns to Reyn and asks, “Anyways, is everything ready for the Mag Mell run?”

“Ye- yeah,” Reyn answers, fumbling with a pack before he tosses it over to Shulk. “I got both our packs and you already finished with my driver, so we just need the transport cases and we’re all good to go.”

“Great! We can pick up those up on the way out, and - ”

“Wait,” Fiora interrupts, “You guys are going to the Mag Mell Ruins? Right now?”

Both boys turn to look at her. “Yeah,” Shulk replies, frowning like he doesn’t get why she’s worried. He probably doesn’t - the ingrate - because he _still thinks this is nothing to worry about._ “They need new cylinders for the mobile artillery - you know, after the crash in the residential district.”

Reyn adds, “Plus, since I left training early yesterday, the Colonel wanted me to make up for it. He figured a Mag Mell run would be two birds with one stone, I guess.”

Fiora narrows her eyes at them. “Right, then I’m going with you.”

“Are you sure, Fiora?” Reyn asks.

Fiora rolls her eyes as she replies, _“Yes,_ I’m sure. I know you two can handle the run on your own, but Tephra Cave monsters are tougher than the ones on the outskirts. After everything with the Monado, I’m worried. What if there are side effects, and you guys don’t realize until later, when you’re half a day’s journey away?”

They could end up hurt like Dunban, and in the middle of Tephra Cave? If they can’t defend themselves properly… well, Fiora’s not going to let anything like that happen.

Reyn looks at her for a moment with a glimmer of understanding in his eyes, before he dramatically stretches and rolls his shoulder. “We’ll be fine,” he insists. “I feel good as new, but we’d be happy to have you along, if you want.”

“Yeah,” Shulk grins, “It’s been a while since all three of us have had the chance to properly hang out."

Fiora beams. “Alright, just let me get my pack, and I’ll meet you at the main entrance.”

———

With the three of them traveling together, the monsters on the way to Tephra Cave are child’s play. The monsters in the cave proper are a little tougher, but nothing they can’t handle between the three of them, and when they don’t feel like fighting there’s always the option to sneak around, as long as they’re quiet.

(Obviously Shulk is the best at it, but he always waits patiently for them to catch up.)

Still, there’s something novel about the journey, just because Fiora so rarely goes deep into the caves. She can’t really go out casually, when there’s so much to do back home, and if she ever needs anything from Tephra Cave, it’s easier to trade for it, or to put in a request with the Defense Force.

The only time she’s ever been this far in, from what she remembers, was during the evacuation over a decade ago, when Dunban carried her all the way to Bionis’ Leg - and then all the way back in when she’d started bawling over her lost charm, the red diamond pendant that she inherited from her mother.

This is the first time she’s been here on her own two feet. She follows Shulk and Reyn through narrow passageways and wider rooms, only just lit enough to make things visible. The main path is brighter with ether lamps - though they seem to be running low - but the rest of the light past the entrance come from the walls and the water, threaded through with just enough ether to produce a faint, persistent glow.

It’s beautiful in a raw, quiet kind of way - enough to distract her from how cramped the caves are until they’re abruptly in the Mag Mell Ruins. In the space of a step and a twist in the tunnels, the walls go from rough grey stone to a smooth, grimy white - the same material as the anti-air batteries, strangely hollow and sturdier than any stone she knows.

Fiora turns a full circle, looks around to see everything as Shulk explains, “The defense force likes to train here, since the enemies are tougher. Since most of the monsters here use mechon parts as armor, it’s good practice for the real thing.”

Then his eyes go faintly starry as he continues, “But I prefer to come here for research - the technology here is _fascinating.”_

At this, Fiora pauses. Sure, this place is interesting enough, but, “I don’t see anything like that around here.”

It’s a little teasing, a little disbelieving, but if Shulk notices he’s not offended. If anything, he looks kind of gleeful as he says, “I know, right? There’s so much tech here, but it’s all hidden! Like, if you look closely, you can see hidden panels in the walls, but they blend in almost seamlessly - it took me _weeks_ to figure out how to even open them, and there are all sorts of mechanisms inside. I still don’t know what this place is, but if I had to guess, I’d say it used to be a transport vehicle. I still haven’t figured out what the propulsion mechanism would be, though.”

Fiora stares at him. “What do you mean, this is a transport vehicle? It’s so big, how could it even move?”

Shulk shrugs. “Like I said, I don’t really know - it’s an educated guess more than anything. But see here?” He kneels by a giant crate and gestures at something at it’s base. “There are all these latches, to keep the crates in place. You wouldn’t use things like this in a place that doesn’t move, right? There’d be no need for it, so the fact that these are here suggest that this place could have moved around.”

“You think it was a walking house?” Reyn jokes, with a fond and teasing laugh.

“Maybe not _walking,_ but that’s not the only way to move, right?”

“Yeah,” Fiora grins, “Maybe it could swim!”

———

Aesthetic aside, the short stretch of the ruins they pass through on the way to the cylinder hangar isn’t actually all that different from the rest of Tephra Cave - the hallways may be wider and more uniform, but there are still monsters about, and the fights are still tough-but-manageable.

Fiora has been in these cave systems for a while now, long enough that she’s lost track of time, but she thinks they entered at around noon.

Now she can see the exit, a little opening in the wall that’s filled with red sky, and Fiora emerges from the ruins to a world dyed in liquid orange, to the warm-dark-brightness of sunset.

The cylinder hanger is in sight, a little ways away on the wide ledge, framed by tall cliffs but with enough empty space in front of it for the entire defense force to train.

That’s not what catches Fiora’s attention, though - not when she can look out to the spot in the distance that makes up Colony 9.

Her home is just a little town on a little island, at the center of a lake that glows like fire. The entire lake is surrounded by steep cliffs, so high that even the anti-air batteries look small, and from here their little colony could fit into Fiora’s cupped hands.

What does the world look like, outside of the colony? She’s always been happy just staying here, content with the life she has, but there’s an entire _world_ outside of these steep stone walls, beyond Tephra Cave and the leg of the Bionis and even beyond Colony 6 at the waist.

If she didn’t have so much to do here, would she ever…

But that’s not the world Fiora lives in. She still has her brother to take care of, things to do at home. Even with the new peace, the lull in mechon attacks that Dunban bought at the cost of his right arm, it’s still too risky to travel casually - and she couldn’t leave him behind. Fiora still has dreams here, of the chance to finally open up a restaurant that’s already been put on hold, of the people she wants to continue to live with forever.

Fiora loves her family, loves Colony 9 too much to give it up for travel. But she can still dream of it - and for the moment, at least, she can burn the vision of her little home and the possibilities beyond it into her memory.

Then she takes a breath and lets out a sigh, stretches towards the sky as she says, “Come on, guys, we still need to get the cylinders before we head back."

Reyn rubs at the back of his head. “Yeah, you’re right,” he says, “Even if we can’t make it back before dark, we can at least make it back before midnight, if we get everything settled now.”

And after a last, lingering look at the Colony, Fiora turns and walks towards the hanger.

—

The walls of the hanger are lined almost to the top with slots for ether cylinders. Even accounting for empty spaces, where cylinders have been removed in the past, there’s still enough refined ether here to power the colony for centuries - all packed into a room the size of a single apartment building.

So much ether in one place, but… it’s half a day’s journey, just to get here, and there are fueling stations in the colony that are so much easier to reach. They can refine ether just fine, with the raw crystals they get from traders or from the veins in Tephra Cave, so why keep making the trip here?

Fiora gets it now, when they need enough for the artillery at short notice, but otherwise the cylinders are large and unwieldy, the caves too small for transport vehicles. The entire path up is littered with monsters, and with any sort of significant group it gets that much harder to sneak past them. Even with the chance to train, isn’t it inefficient getting ether this way?

When she asks, Shulk explains, “I wondered about that too, at first. The thing is, it takes a long time for us to refine large amounts of ether at the colony, and cylinderization doesn’t always succeed. You can’t always predict if you’re going to end up with gems or cylinders or duds, so it’s not great for steady energy. Even with the trouble involved in getting them, these cylinders are more reliable."

Reyn, pulling cylinders from the walls to put in the transport cases, adds, “The artillery and anti-air batteries are also standardized to these, so we can use them straight away. Add that to the fact that these last longer than the ones we make, and it’s generally just less complicated to use these where we can.”

Fiora frowns. “I mean, that makes sense and all, but what if something happens to the hangar? We’d be in pretty big trouble if all these cylinders broke, right?”

Shulk smiles. “Well, that’s one of the fascinating things about this place - even though it’s ancient, it’s in great condition. I think somehow, the people who made this place managed to embed restorative tech in the walls. Add that to how sturdy the hangar itself is, and I think there’s little chance that’d ever happen.”

“It’s not just really sturdy and all?” Reyn asks. “Because like, it’s made out of the same stuff as the anti-air batteries, and they’re in great shape without any fancy tech in the walls.”

Shulk shrugs, even as he approaches an empty cylinder slot with a penlight. “I mean, its mostly conjecture, since I can’t come here that often, but last time I _was_ here, I took some paneling out of the walls to look inside - I ended up denting it in the process, but the wall’s good as new now. There _has_ to be some kind of secret to this kind of thing, but it’s just technology in the end. I’ll figure it out someday, then I’ll show you guys.”

He turns to the two of them with bright eyes and a warm smile, completely at odds with his affectionate moniker as their resident ghost, contagious enough that Fiora reflexively smiles back. Reyn isn’t looking at them, focused as he is on his task, but he has a grin on his lips as well. Then, with a last _zip_ to secure the cylinders, he heaves himself up, transport cases in hand, and says, “Alright, all packed up! We ready to head out?”

Fiora nods affirmative, but Shulk - who managed to distract himself in the three second shift in conversation - says, “Sure, just give me a moment. I think there’s a magnet back here, instead of a screw thread. I bet its how they get all the cylinders to stay put when this place was in motion, but I wonder how they got them unstuck.”

“I dunno about the mechanism,” Reyn says, “But if you wanna get the cylinder out, all you gotta do is turn it ninety degrees. After that, it comes out easy.”

“Huh,” Shulk murmurs, “There must be some kind of trigger, then, to disconnect it - but how do you get a magnet to stop working?”

Knowing Shulk - or more specifically, the way his hand is drifting over the tool-kit on his belt - he wants to investigate more. This kind of thing can last for hours and the sunset is already fading down into twilight, so Fiora stops him there. “Shulk, I know you want to look at this more, but we really do need to head out if we’re going to be back before midnight. The hangar will still be here tomorrow, we can come out and have a look another time. You know, when we have actual overnight supplies and no urgent obligations to return to?”

“But…” Shulk sends a last longing look towards the cylinders before he sighs and lets his head drop. “No, you’re right, we should head back.”

Then he frowns and brings a hand to rest on the hilt of his sword. Crouched slightly, ready to move in an instant, and with a wary glance around the room, Shulk asks, “Did you guys hear that?”

Fiora and Reyn immediately fall silent, and in the quiet it’s easier to hear the soft _whir_ that Fiora had missed before. But, there’s nothing unusual anywhere around the room…

Except up, where two machines detach from the ceiling .They’re oblong, white and nearly as tall as she is, with glowing discs set like faces in the approximation of their heads. One of the machines has a disc-face that glows fire-ether red, while the other glows with the yellow of electric ether. Fiora hopes it’s aesthetic rather than any indication of their attack capabilities, but as each machine moves, she doubts it - the halos around each machine’s head split, twisting like arms as the machines appear to look around.

They look _agressive,_ despite being so plain, and by the time they move to strike, Fiora already has her knives in her hands.

———

Fortunately the fight isn’t too tough, but by the time they’re done the orange sunset has long since faded into a cool night’s blue.

Fiora lets her breathing steady, lets herself calm now that the threat has passed, and with the fading of her adrenaline she starts to feel the scrapes from her battle. They’re mostly minor - though the fire-and-lightning faces did correlate with attack strength and ether strength as she’d feared, the machines moved more sluggishly than they probably should have, and she managed to escape with only a few ether burns and bruises.

The only injury she has of note at the moment is a bruise on her bicep, a persistent throb of angry red on the stripe of skin that’s visible between her sleeve and her arm warmer. It has the feel of something that’s going to color _spectacularly,_ and like a fool, Fiora decides to poke it.

Her shocked yelp is enough to catch Shulk’s attention, and he’s by her side in an instant. “Are you okay?” he asks, hand already hovering over her arm as he frets.

Fiora shakes her head. “I’m fine, it’s just a bruise - nothing serious."

Shulk ignores this as he pulls at her arm, bringing it closer so he can investigate even as Reyn shines a light over her arm.

He clicks his tongue in sympathy at it, and Shulk murmurs, “That looks pretty bad, I’m sorry I didn’t catch it sooner…”

“Seriously Shulk, it’s fine,” Fiora says with a slight roll of her eyes, “These things happen, and if you spent _all_ of your time trying to heal us in a fight, we’d never be able to get anything done.”

“That’s fair,” Shulk allows, “but I can get it now, since we’re not doing anything else.”

Already he has his hand slightly outstretched, held still in the air as he does… _something_ to gather ambient water ether at his palm. The glow is a pale, faint blue at first, but it quickly darkens and spreads until it coats his entire hand. Once he’s satisfied with what he’s collected, he lays his glowing hand gently on Fiora’s bruised bicep.

With his faint murmur of _Light Heal,_ the ether pulls away from him and sinks through her skin, settling in her muscles. It’s an odd feeling, like an IV but without out the pinpoint prick of a needle.

It only lasts a moment, but when Shulk pulls his hand back, Fiora’s skin is back to it’s normal golden tan.

With a nod, Shulk says, “Good, that’s much better,” and with a flick of his hand, he shakes off the last of the ether that’s clinging to his skin like water.

It settles on Fiora like the more typical in-battle spell, like mist without the wetness that fills in and smooths away the last of her minor scrapes.

Satisfied, Shulk turns to Reyn and asks, “What about you? Anything I can patch up?”

Reyn shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good, didn’t even get a scratch. I’m pretty sure something got _you,_ though, in the middle of all that. Aren’t you gonna heal yourself?”

Shulk blinks, and looks reflexively down at his other hand. Fiora takes hold of it, feels the heat radiating off of him, then tugs his hand closer to make up for the dim lighting.

At the same time, Reyn shines his light on him, and they both get a good look at his injury.

It’s not as bad as she’d feared, angry red but not blistered like a stronger blast of electric ether would have been. Fiora still can’t help but scold, “Shulk, you should have taken care of this first. My bruise wouldn’t have caused any problems if we ended up in another fight, but with your hand like that… can you even hold your sword properly to defend yourself?”

Shulk rubs at the back of his neck. “Fiora, it’s fine, it wouldn’t have been a problem. I can barely feel it, anyways,” he adds, ignoring Reyn’s muttered _you know that’s not saying much, right?_ to the side as he continues, “and I wanted to look at your wounds first.”

“But it would have made more sense to take care of yourself, first,” Fiora argues, “It’s standard practice for medics to prioritize their own safety first so they can take care of others when they’re needed, isn’t it?”

“But it isn’t even that bad, and I can basically heal myself whenever I want. Since you guys can’t, it’s more important to get you guys covered, in case we’re separated.”

Reyn rolls his eyes. “Shulk, if we were separated that quickly, we’d have an entirely different problem on our hands. Anyways, Fiora’s right, and I _know_ you know that bit of protocol, anyways.”

“It didn’t even hurt, though,” Shulk protests, “it’s barely anything.”

To prove his point, he holds up his injured hand and gathers ether for another Light Heal. This time, he doesn’t even need to move his hand, and instead holds it still as the collected ether gathers back into his skin, like water sinks into dirt. Once his hand is burn-free, he waves it in front of them and says, “See, it’s good as - ”

Then, a frown. He glances up, like he’s trying to see past the ceiling to the sky, and he asks, “Are those the sirens?”

Now that it’s quiet, Fiora can hear a faint rumble in the sky, and a distant, sharp blare.

Then there’s a _fwoomph_ like a thousand blowtorches being lit at once, and that’s all the prompting they need to race outside.

It’s darker than it should be. Colony 9’s night sky is supposed to be smeared with starlight, so clear that rain and thunderstorms are more conceptual than anything, but it’s currently blacked out by dark silhouettes, a looming shadow only broken up by the eerie red lights of active mechon.

_Something’s coming,_ Dunban had said, _the world is going to change._

Fiora hopes to the Bionis this isn’t that _something._

oOoOo

“We’re going to need the Monado if we’re to have a chance at stopping these things,” Shulk says, staring up at the sky.

Against a swarm this large, blotting out the sky and filling it with whirs and screams, it’s the only logical choice they have, if they want to protect their home.

… even if there’s no one in the colony who can use it at the moment. Even if the Monado is in the Military District, at literally the furthest point they could possibly aim for in the colony. Even if they’d have to dive into a _swarm of Mechon_ to even have a chance of reaching it.

But a slim hope is better than none - which is what they have _without_ the sword, and he’s one of the few people who’s even willing to touch it.

Shulk glances at Reyn and Fiora, just long enough to see them nod in agreement, before he takes a running leap for the lake.

The fall is a long swoop in his stomach, unnerving and _cold_ once he lands, but since he’s hit deep water, he’s completely unharmed. This way, even if he’s cold and wet, he’s also that much closer to home.

When Shulk hears twin splashes behind him, feels the bob of displaced water in his core, Shulk begins swimming for the nearest patch of shore. It’s quite a slog when all his clothes are waterlogged, but it still beats the half-day’s journey it would have taken them to make it back on foot.

The race towards the colony is easier, once they get to shore. Even the more aggressive monsters, the ones that usually attack on sight, have fled in the wake of the mechon invasion, leaving the stretch of shoreline up to the colony free and eerily silent in the dim night.

Reyn, at the head of the group to ward off any potential attacks, stops just short of the crest of the slope leading to the colony entrance.

Coming up to a stop beside him, with Fiora flanking the other side, Shulk asks, “Reyn? What’s wrong?”

Reyn shakes his head. “I know we need to get there as fast as we can, but we shouldn’t just charge straight into the fight, right? At the very least, I want to get a look at the situation before we go charging in.”

The pause rankles at Shulk, but it makes sense. This isn’t the kind of situation they can just charge into, no matter how much Shulk wants to rush, and of all of them, Reyn’s the only one with any semblance of formal tactical training. If he says they need to slow down for the moment, then the best thing to do is to listen.

Fiora’s fingers twitch on the hilt of her knives, but the only objection she has is, “We’re not going to be able to gather much information standing over here, and it’s not like there’s a lot of cover on our way in.”

Reyn nods. “Yeah, I thought of that. Look, I know this isn’t ideal, but our best bet is honestly just sneaking past as many of the mechon as possible. We can make observations along the way, and we’ll be in a better place to fight once we’ve got our hands on the Monado.” Then he grins. “I mean, Shulk’ll probably be fine and all, but you and me, we gotta keep our guards up.”

Shulk grumbles playfully as Fiora laughs, but neither of them really have their heart in it. Still, the brief bout of levity does lighten the mood, and it’s just the smallest bit easier to wait for the few crawling moments it takes to find an opening they can use to sneak past.

The subterfuge works out pretty well, until Reyn stops cold at the ether light plaza, and Fiora nearly runs right into him.

It’s understandable, though, because the mechon are _eating people._

Reyn charges the closest one, blocks it’s fanged tentacle moments before it can clamp down on its next target. Shulk rushes in after him, dancing around its side to find a way to knock it off balance, and from the corner of his eye he sees Fiora come up from behind. She pulls the woman off the ground and out of the way, then sends her running with a gentle shove to the back and a quick, “Hurry, Sonia, get to the shelters as fast as you can.”

“But my children - ”

“Go to the shelters, see if they’re there. If they’re not, then you can ask the soldiers to go look for them, but you can’t help them out here.”

Sonia leaves, and Shulk finds a weak point in the mechon’s stance. After he breaks it, Reyn follows with a fierce charge to send it toppling - and they use the chance to run. Even if it’s easier to find the weak spots in a toppled mechon’s armor, they don’t have enough time to try to take this one down, and even if they did it’d only be one drop of a flood.

Shulk trails after Reyn and Fiora as they dodge around more claws and under mechon bellies. When he catches up to them, still moving, Reyn curtly says, “We can’t take too many breaks, we have to get to the labs quick as possible.”

“But - ” Fiora starts.

“I _know,”_ Reyn snaps, not at her but at the situation at large. “I hate it too, but it’s the only way we’ll be able to stop them for real. We can’t stop to help with the evacuation.”

Fiora growls, “I hate this - the mechon, the attacks, _everything.”_

“Me, too,” Shulk says, “But at least we can help the people in front of us. It’s something, even if it’s not enough.”

He glances at Reyn, just to make sure, but Reyn only says, “Yeah, we won’t abandon the people in front of us.”

He still hates it when they don’t have time to stop. Even when they do what they can - distract the mechon in their path when they get too close to their neighbors and buy the civilians a few moments to escape - there are too many people that they _can’t_ help, just out of reach or under mechon too large to stop.

Shulk _hates_ being helpless more than anything, hates that they can’t even dent these stupid machines without the help of a sword that won’t even let people handle it, but there’s no time.

Just - just get to the lab and pick up the Monado. There’s only so much they can do, when they’re only three people and Shulk isn’t even particularly strong, but he can at least not break. Not before they get to the sword that could be their salvation.

It’ll be fine. _They'll_ be fine.

Or not, considering the boulders blocking the lab entrance. Great. Wonderful. How are they supposed to get in?

Reyn shoves at a boulder with his booted foot. It’s not exactly half-hearted, because Reyn doesn’t do anything by halves, but it’s definitely without much hope. And sure enough the boulders - probably part of the neighboring building if the nearby structural damage and bits of rebar are any indication - don’t move an inch.

“Well, that’s not going to work,” Reyn mutters, “Not that I thought it would.”

Fiora circles around the entrance with quick, skipping steps as she tries to peek around the mess in front of them. At one point, she tries climbing the rubble, but before Shulk can ask what she’s doing, she hops back down and shakes her head. “The door’s completely blocked, there’s no way we can climb in.”

Shaking his head in agitation, Reyn asks, “How’re we supposed to get in there, then? We _need_ the Monado if we’re going to have any chance against these things.”

He runs a large hand through his spiky red hair, jostling the ether cylinder transport case strapped to his back.

The ether cylinders…

“I’ve got it.” Shulk snaps his fingers. “The mobile artillery’s in the residential district right now, and we have the cylinders to fuel it. It should be powerful enough to get the rubble out of the way, and if not we can blast it and make it easier to manage. Reyn, Fiora, are either of you able to drive it?”

“I can handle it alright,” Fiora replies, “and I know Reyn’s trained with it before…”

Reyn claps her on the back and adds, “I’m decent at it, but Fiora’s one of the best. It’s half the reason Vangarre wants her to join the defense force, even aside from her ability to fight.”

“That’s perfect,” Shulk exclaims. “Then it’s settled. We’ll make our way to the residential district…”

“Get the mobile artillery set up and ready to go,” Fiora continues.

“And blast our way to the development lab!” Reyn finishes, punching lightly at his free hand.

“ _And_ we’ll try to move the boulders out of the way before we start blasting anything,” Fiora corrects, though she doesn’t quite manage to hide her smile. “Well, if that’s settled, then there’s no time to waste - we need to get moving.”

———

They’re only able to make it as far as Central Plaza before they’re blocked off by mechon.

The thing about the Central Plaza is that it’s incredibly spacious, just about the only area in the colony besides Tranquil Square with any room that isn’t already occupied by a building. Aside from tall spire that sits above the plaza and the raised platform in the center, where people speak during colony meetings, there’s only a few light posts around.

Which means there’s plenty of room for the mechon to surround them. Plus, since the plaza connects the three main district of the colony entirely by concrete bridges over the lake, there’s not much hope for them sneaking around.

It’d be impossible to get three people out of that mess. One person, though, with a big enough distraction… Fiora isn’t gong to appreciate this. “We’ll cut a path for you, Fiora, so get to the artillery.”

She doesn’t even look at Shulk when she snaps, “I’m not leaving you guys behind,” and it’s only half because they’re all standing back to back to keep the mechon in view.

“Fiora,” Shulk hisses, “We don’t have a choice! I don’t like it either, but we _need_ the artillery and you’re the best at driving it."

Reyn adds, “Besides, it’s not exactly going to be a cakewalk getting to the thing. If there are any more mechon between here and there, you’ve got the best chance of getting past them - I wouldn’t be fast enough, and Shulk’s not good enough at solo fighting if he gets caught. I know we joke about him sneaking past everything, but it’s too much of a risk, for him. You’ll at least be able to buy yourself enough time to escape, if it comes down to it.”

Shulk can’t see either of his friends, but there’s no missing the distress in Fiora’s voice when she stammers, “But Shulk… Reyn…”

He hates hearing her like this, hates the thought of having to send her off to face so much danger on her own, but Shulk trusts Fiora. She can make it through, so he says, “Fiora, please go! We’ll be right behind you.”

Then Reyn, with a wobbly grin in his voice, says, “We’ll be fine - I won’t let them touch him.”

Even though it’s risky, Shulk glances to the side, to look at Fiora if only for a moment. The hesitance from earlier is missing from her stance, gone with the breath it takes for her to straighten up and snap, “Fine, but you’re not allowed to get hurt either, Reyn.”

Shulk shifts as she sheathes her twin knives and turns towards Reyn, moves forwards so that he can cover her as she removes the other transport case from Reyn’s back. After she takes it, she hefts it up, eyes the bridge to the residential district, then glances over at the two of them.

Her expression is stormy and beautiful when she growls, “I’m going ahead, then I’m coming _right back_ to help you two - count on that!” and with that she bolts, ducking under the claws of the mechon blocking the path, not looking back when Reyn screams and charges to draw it’s attention away from her.

———

He can’t say the problem starts with any given moment, since this whole endeavor was a disaster from the start, but it definitely worsens over time.

Obviously, because despite their skills in a fight there are a _lot_ of mechon, and only so much that two Homs can endure.

Which is how they end up in their current state, back to back against a mechon horde, gasping for breath and trying not to fall over. There’s the remains of three separate mechon scattered in all around them, but that barely matters when there’s at least a dozen more that Shulk can see.

Between breaths, Reyn pants, “I’ve - I’ve got this, Shulk. You go - on ahead,” in a spectacular display of both his protective instincts and his tunnel vision - even if Shulk _wanted_ to abandon one of his best friends to a horde of murder machines, he’s not very strong and nowhere near fast enough to make up for it - and he’s garnered enough attention that even evoking Shadow Eye wouldn’t help him dodge it, even before considering how poorly it’d work once he got far enough from Reyn.

Also, his breathing isn’t much better when he replies, “You’re too - out of breath - to persuade me.”

He can barely take in enough air to stand, how is Reyn expecting him to run? Whatever Reyn’s expecting - or hoping to say - he’s interrupted by an unfortunate _crackle-crack_ above them, and there’s barely time to glance up before he’s scrambling out of the way of Central Plaza’s spire, with Reyn bolting in the other direction.

Shulk trips over his own two feet, only escaping the debris by a hair - and while he can say better for Reyn, who’s well clear of the rubble and not sprawled on the ground, he can’t say the same for the bridge that Fiora took to the Residential District.

It’s still holding, thankfully, but their chances of crossing it have shifted from ‘low’ to ‘zero’, owing to the tons of concrete now blocking the path, and by the time Shulk glances back at Reyn -

He’s being shoved to the ground by a claw shaped like a three-petaled flower, lined to the hilt with teeth. Reyn only survives by the grace of his driver, brought up just in time to shield him from the mechon, and Shulk scrambles to his feet.

He strikes the mechon with his blade, only succeeds in jarring his arm with the reverberations. As he switches tracks, tries to shove his blade into a joint so he can pry the mechon away from Reyn, he hears more clattering behind him, and in that moment Shulk thinks they’re going to die.

Then there’s light, ferociously blue, slicing through the mechon and scattering debris like leaves in a maelstrom. The assault kicks up a cloud of smoke and dust, and for a moment the Monado’s blue light is all he can really see.

But he doesn’t need to see more, when there’s only one person it could be.

Dunban stands, framed by the clearing smoke, and glances over his shoulder with a smirk. “Sorry I kept you waiting.”

Shulk’s heart already feels lighter. “Dunban, you’re here!”

He scrambles up and dashes over to Dunban - then frowns, because Dunban is already panting heavily, and sparking with the Monado’s blue light. “Are you alright?”

Reyn glances around, observing the now wary mechon hanging back, as he adds, “Yeah, you look kind of rough. Thanks for the save, though.”

Dunban’s smile is tired when he says, “I’ll be fine. I’ve lost a bit of stamina since my injury, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been slacking off. That’s not important now, though - where’s Fiora?”

Reyn answers, “She went to get the artillery in the residential district, but…” he glances at the spire that nearly crushed them moments earlier, now blocking the way there, and says, “Well, we’re going to have to take the long way around.”

“Right, then back through the commercial district we go,” Dunban says.

———

Everything seems to be, if not great, at least better than it was before, so naturally it can’t last. Shulk’s not sure if it was inevitable, or if they stopped and fought one too many mechon trying to free trapped people, but at the main entrance to Colony 9, along the path to the only other entrance into the residential district, Dunban freezes.

Shulk thinks it’s exhaustion at first. It’d make sense, since Dunban’s thrown himself into this fight so suddenly despite his still-healing injuries, but that wouldn’t explain the sparks popping from Dunban’s skin as he loses his grip on the Monado.

It goes skidding, clattering against the main entrance bridge, and Dunban goes down, screaming as he collapses.

Reyn drops to his knees next to Dunban, helps him to sit upright and leaves a steady hand on his back. “Dunban, you can’t go on like this.”

Shaking his head, Dunban replies, “I don’t have a choice. The Monado - ” He coughs, and isn’t quick enough to catch the blood that comes up. His left arm is shaking, hand not quite curling into a proper fist, and his right arm hasn’t even twitched.

Dunban can’t use the Monado like this.

But Shulk remembers what Dunban said the day he was brought back. The memory that’d caught in his mind on a morning that feels like forever ago, of the moment Dunban was carried out of a medical vehicle on a stretcher, and he used his whisper-strength to tug at Shulk’s sleeve.

He’d murmured _I finally realized - I’ve only ever been borrowing it and my time with it finally ran out._ Shulk had been so shocked by it - by the implications - that he had frozen, stopped trailing after him.

But Dunban still borrowed the Monado for long enough to make a difference.

There’s a moment when Shulk’s eyes lock with Dunban’s, when Dunban realizes what he’s going to do.

He reaches forwards and shouts, “No, _wait - ”_ but it’s too late.

Shulk snatches up the Monado - foreboding and comforting, familiar and new - and -

(It fits his hand like it was made for it, like this moment was inevitable)

\- and calls it’s blade to light.

———

Shulk charges the mechon before him with a shout, and in the space of a breath -

\- _he goes flying from the mechon’s fired bolt and -_

\- he dodges the first strike, static skimming at his hair before it crashes into the building behind him.

Shulk tears his focus away from the wreckage behind him. Bends his knees and _pushes,_ soars high through the air so he can bring his blade _down_ on the mechon’s head. It’s metal armor _screeches_ as it’s rent to scrap and -

_\- another mechon’s arm comes down, a hammer strike on his crown and -_

_\- a strike to his stomach sends him sprawling and -_

Shulk twists to the side, dodges the mechon’s first strike and ducks under the next before he brings his blade up through the machine’s side.

There’s no time to wonder just _what_ that was before Reyn shouts, “Hey, more incoming!” and barrels past him, shoves at the closest mechon so it tumbles out of the way.

That moment to breathe lands Reyn right in the eye of the storm, surrounded by machines he can’t even dent, and Shulk _won’t let that stand._

Power swells like the air in his lungs, dyes the Monado’s light purple. A breath and a swing, and Shulk lets the power burst forwards in a wave that leaps forwards and seeps into the scrap driver that he made for Reyn.

His next strike rings true. The mechon attacking Reyn falls back with a clawed arm shorn off and a deep gouge in its side, rent immobile by his newly enchanted driver.

Reyn catches Shulk’s eyes with a sharp grin, then charges.

———

Shulk finishes off his mechon with the hope that Dunban, having just been hurt by the Monado, would decide to be reasonable for once and find a place to hide.

He’s not surprised - though he is reluctantly impressed - when he turns to find Dunban slicing through the last of the mechon instead, using the junk sword he’d dropped earlier in his rush to pick up the Monado.

It’s purple aura fades with the fall of the last mechon - with the last of Dunban’s opponents. 

Dunban, hunched over, heaves a long sigh before he straightens and turns to Shulk and Reyn. “Good work, boys, now let’s - ” 

“Dunban,” Reyn interrupts, “I know you’re awesome and all, but should you really be fighting? You could barely stand not too long ago.”

Dunban’s face is solemn and unusually pale when he says, “Somehow, I don’t think I have a choice. This is an emergency, and you’ll need all the help you can get. I can still fight, so I will.”

Then he pauses and grins, somewhat wryly. “Besides, I don’t think either of you would be any more willing to stay behind, not when we need to catch up with Fiora.”

“Hah, got us there,” Reyn huffs, running his hand through his hair, “I wouldn’t let anything stop me from getting to her, if I were in your shoes.”

Dunban smiles. “Then it’s settled, I’ll continue on with you.”

“Alright,” Shulk says, “But let me heal you first, at least.”

“I don’t think we have time for that,” Dunban replies. “And I doubt you’d be able to help much with the damage the Monado inflicted.”

Shulk frowns. “It won’t take much time, and you’re not coming before I’ve had a look at you. Besides, even if I can’t help with that, I can take care of anything the mechon might’ve done. I can give you more energy, too - enough to get us to Fiora faster, at least.”

Dunban doesn’t reply after that, except to give a brief nod. It’s enough for Shulk at least, and he brings his hand to Dunban’s chest, closes his eyes so he can better sense the ambient ether in the air.

After a moment, he’s got a grasp on as much water ether as he can manage, and he lets it flow through his hand and into Dunban. A breath, then another, and the glow finally fades, bringing the bulk of his cuts and bruises with it and leaving him just a little bit closer to his natural copper skin.

Shulk opens his eyes, and says, “Okay, that’s it. Time to get moving.”

———

After that, they’re outside the border, dodging around the Mechon at the edge of the colony as they make their way to the Residential District.

Should they do more to stop these mechon? Shulk has the only effective weapon against them, the only thing that can cut through mechon armor, but Fiora has already been separated from them for too long.

This far out, no one’s in immediate danger. Maybe these mechon will reach the colony, but maybe they won’t and at this point Shulk can only pray that won’t happen. It’s selfish, maybe, but there’s only so much he can do. He’s only one person, only able to fight the mechon as well as he can because of the Monado’s power, and while there’s a possibility that these mechon will put others at risk, he _knows_ for a fact that Fiora’s in danger.

So he doesn’t regret it, though he comes close when the gigantic mechon crashes down from the sky.

It straightens where it fell, shifting the cracked floor under it’s feet in a strangely human way. Standing upright, it’s taller than any mechon he’s ever seen, could easily scrape at the rooftops of the apartment buildings around it.

It towers above them, black and bronze armor barely visible in the night. Only its lights, glowing an eerie red and running tracks through it’s body, stand out in the dark.

That, and it’s bone-white face.

It’s a thing out of his nightmares (out of that strange, strange vision he’d seen earlier that day, when he’d picked up the Monado back in the lab), but in the end, it’s just a mechon. They’re no match for the Monado -

\- except this one is, and his first strike rebounds off it’s black armor.

Shulk falls back, still feeling the reverberations through his arms, and gasps, “How - _why isn’t the Monado working?”_

He strikes again, taking advantage of the giant mechon’s distraction after Reyn’s caught it’s attention, but the same thing happens again.

As he flings himself away from another attack, Dunban mutters, “I don’t understand, the Monado has always cut through mechon with ease.”

Something about that brings Shulk’s attention back to the mechon, so different from the others, with the vivid red light that runs through it’s body like blood -

Then Dunban snaps, “Get down!” and Reyn is yanking him out of the way of the mechon’s next strike, pulling Shulk clear just in time for it’s wickedly sharp claws to pierce the cobblestones where he’d only just stood.

Shulk pushes himself up from where he was sent sprawling. Reyn pulls him back to his feet without looking, right by his side, but Dunban…

Dunban must realize how hopeless this fight is. It’s the only reason Shulk can think of for him to snap, “Stay back, I’ll take it from here,” when not even the Monado can pierce through this metal-faced mechon.

Dunban is brave and fierce and strong, but there’s only so much he can do against a mechon the size of a building. He’s quickly sent flying, only saved from cracking open his head when Reyn intercepts his path - and even then, they’re both sent sprawling.

In less than a minute, Shulk is the only one left standing, and a moment later even that changes.

As he collides with the ground, he blacks out just a second - just long enough for the Monado to deactivate, before he drags his head up to focus back on the mechon.

He’s just in time to see it crumple, shoved forwards by an explosion at the back of its neck.

There’s the _screech_ of skidding tires, a clatter as the mobile artillery jerks into a sharp turn with Fiora at the helm.

She charges forward with the artillery as she _screams_ , “Get _away_ from them,” and -

_\- the mechon blasts the artillery’s right arm off and -_

She sends a rain of bullets ricocheting off the mechon. It turns and shrugs, brushes at its shoulder as if swatting away a fly, and there’s a burst of energy and the mechon blasts the artillery’s right arm off.

It falls with a grating _screech_ and the kind of force that would have stopped a lesser warrior in their tracks, but -

This is Fiora, fierce as lightning, and she launches a barrage of rockets at it without hesitation. One, then two, three, four, and five - and the mechon stumbles, long enough for Fiora to charge again, screaming “I won’t let you hurt them, and _I won’t let you destroy our home!_ ”

She shoves the artillery’s shoulder canon into the mechon’s metal face and -

\- _the artillery is flung into a wall, claws slide into it’s heart and -_

\- she fires the cannon point-blank. The metal-faced mechon falls with an earth-breaking rumble, but the explosion knocks Fiora - knocks the artillery - off balance, too.

_Then the metal-faced mechon rises._

It thunders towards Fiora, grabs the artillery by it’s cannon, sends it flying as Fiora screams in side it.

The artillery crashes to the ground in a mess of broken walls and flowerpots goes still as the metal-faced mechon storms forwards, and Fiora is stuck, struggling to _move_ while Shulk is helpless, too far away to do anything but scream, “No, Fiora, _get out of there!”_ and -

Claws slide into her heart.

The machine - the _monster -_ lifts its hand with the artillery impaled on its claws, and sends it flying with a lazy flick.

It lands with a _clang_ and smaller mechon swarm the downed machine, pull it open and - _they’re eating Fiora._

Shulk glares at the metal-faced mechon, shoves himself to his feet with the Monado as his crutch, and -

\- _it’s claws are dripping red -_

\- Shulk _screams, “I’LL KILL YOU!”_

Reyn’s voice is a distant, cracked thing in the background, a raw, “You’re going to _pay_ for that,” as Dunban shouts, “Fiora, _no!”_ and nothing else matters, not when the _monster_ is there, when there’s a warp in it’s leg that Shulk can _stab_ with the Monado’s lightning blade and -

Reyn and Dunban roar as they strike, wrench their weapons up through the _monster’s_ guard so it goes toppling and vulnerable to a full-powered Monado _strike_ and -

It recovers too quickly, flails as it flings them away. Shulk rolls to his feet just in time to block the monster’s bloodstained claw with his blade and -

Dawn light catches on it’s twisted metal face, gleaming white except for the shadow of a canon-fire burn.

With a shout, with a shove, Shulk drives the monster’s claws to the ground, grabs its arm and slings himself up. He drags his way up the black length of its arm, races across its shoulder and _drives the Monado through it’s smug red eye._

He doesn’t let go, even as it flails. In the end, the Monado comes loose, and Shulk goes flying with it still in his hand. Reyn races forwards to catch him, pulls him back as the gigantic mechon approaches and -

\- the light in it’s armor flickers. The monster stops, turns its face to the sky, and -

\- it flies, launches itself through smoke and dust and filtered dawn sunlight and -

\- Shulk stumbles after it so he can _make it pay,_ except his legs give out from under him and the world goes dead and black.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay full stop this has been sitting in my docs for like, a year, and the main motivation for final edits+posting of this chapter is entirely that the definitive edition came out. I don't actually have it yet, but still.
> 
> Edit: So I got the game and played through the events of this chapter and remembered what I actually wanted to put in the notes - so here's an overview of a few things I changed for this chapter+why
> 
> *event order: the game's event order works for it's medium, where they have to introduce tutorials, but I thought this made more sense for a novelization
> 
> *post-apocalyptic world: the game's introduction has a bit of an 'and suddenly the Fire Nation attacked' vibe to it, which is... not bad, not what I would've chosen. They're only a year out from Sword Valley, and my understanding of things is that the mechon have been a big enough problem that there's only TWO COLONIES left out of NINE. MINIMUM. I don't think that kind of stress would have been forgotten that quickly, so I tried to add more undercurrents of that - though I admittedly don't know how successful that was. 
> 
> *Reyn's training: the game tends to gloss over him or make him dumb for a joke, but he's the only one in the teen trio with actual military training. I admittedly don't know what they'd cover, but I figure he'd have the most tactical training out of all of them, so I tried to reflect that where I could
> 
> *Fiora's character: oh boy. I adore her, but like... despite the game rather than because of it. Her ENTIRE CHARACTER seems to revolve around Shulk, and I honestly think it's for the worse. It's not /bad/ for her to care about Shulk, but when it's basically the only thing the game cares about, it makes her more of a prop than a character - so I tried to add more, like her dream of opening a restaurant, her notable combat skills, and the sense of longing for what exists beyond the colony. Things that aren't directly related to Shulk.


End file.
